Mercer soccer teams on a roll in Southern Conference play

Mercer’s soccer teams are both riding winning streaks as they head into the closing stretch in Southern Conference play.

The men’s team beat Furman 2-1 in overtime Tuesday, putting it in first place in the conference. The Bears are 9-4 overall and 4-1 in conference play, and they have won three straight games.

“We have good leadership on this team, an upperclassman team,” Mercer head coach Brad Ruzzo said. “And they really fought and dug in, and fortunately we got the goal in the end in the first overtime.”

The women’s team is sixth in the conference. The Bears beat South Carolina State 5-0 in non-conference play Wednesday night after beating Furman and Wofford last weekend for a three-game winning streak of their own.

They are 6-8-1 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

“We started off a bit slow in conference, and I think after the first couple weekends we found ourselves and our identity, and we’re starting to play well at the right time,” head coach Tony Economopoulos said.

Junior Will Bagrou leads the men’s team with six goals and 14 points. He is tied for first in conference in game-winning goals, and he is ranked 48th nationally for total goals.

Maddie Clark was named the conference player of the Week after scoring the winning goals against Furman and Wofford.

“It’s a testament to her and her hard work over the past five years,” Economopoulos said. “It’s also a testament to our team for getting her the opportunities to create to score.”

The senior ranks third in conference for goals and goals per game. Clark is also 19th nationally for game-winning goals and 33rd for total goals.

“She’s a big heart, she’s a team player, she’s a captain; every quality you hope that every kid can exude is what she has,” Economopoulos said.

There are only a handful of conference games left for the two Mercer teams. The men’s team has five more regular-season games starting Saturday night at UNC Greensboro, while conference tournament begins Nov. 5.

“We’ve got some work cut out for us,” Ruzzo said. “We’ve got to kind of get back and rest and recover and get prepared.”

The women hosts VMI on Friday and has only two regular-season games after that, and the conference tournament begins Oct. 26.

“It’s a game that we feel if we can win it, will keep us in the race for a top-four finish,” Economopoulos said.

This story was originally published October 13, 2016 at 9:37 PM with the headline "Mercer soccer teams on a roll in Southern Conference play."